The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.

Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.

Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!

How is your family? hope all of you are fine, if so splendid. Yaw
Osafo-Maafo is my name and former Ghanaian minister of finance. Although I
was sacked by President John Kufuor on 28 April 2006 for the fact I
signed £29 million book publication contract with Macmillan Education
without reference to the Public Procurement Board and without Parliamentary
approval.

You can read more on this web page
<http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=103713>
Right now, I was being probed because of it. As matter of fact, £9
million
part of the money was lodged into my private account in China.
Already I have notified my lawyer in China about it and he will see
the money is transferred to your account for investment. I would like
you to give this a highly confidential approach. Any question you wish
to ask concerning this deal, do not delay to ask.

Presently, I do not need any telephone discussion for safety. The
moment I hear from you, my lawyer will contact you,.